Tuesday, 16 May 2017

Perth to Adelaide - Day 32 - Tanunda

I had a day to fill today so had the pleasure of a detour to the Barossa Valley before I ride into Adelaide tomorrow to end the trip. It was a nice easy ride today, only 56km, and has the added benefit of making tomorrow a pretty straight forward route into the centre of the city off the worst of the main roads, hopefully.

I was fascinated riding down Seppeltsfield Rd which is bristling with big name Shiraz vineyards. Vines seemed to line every inch of available space, and most looked extremely healthy unlike the Clare valley for some reason. Or, maybe it was just a bit more opulent?

I did not call in at any, but enjoyed getting some context on the place for some excellent wines. Tanunda is a super cool town as well, bursting with interesting cellar doors, shops and even gardens. But I could not quite make up my mind on what to do and felt like I should still be cycling or something.

So, tomorrow will be the last day I get up out of bed and ride to a new place. But it is not quite yet time to reflect on the last month of living a pretty simple nomadic life, even though tomorrow is just a short days ride to the end, it would be a bad time to lose focus.

In mountaineering, climbers talk about 'GetHomeItis'. This is the 'disease' that gets you killed on the way down. You die because you think you are done just because you got to the summit, but most cimbers die coming down. For me, my summit was Ceduna after crossing the Nullarbor and I have been descending ever since. There were plenty of traps for the unwary so staying focused was a pretty good idea!

I also have work to do in order to hit my fundraising target for Cure Cancer Australia...so not done yet!